What to Include in a Vacation Rental House Manual

Most hosts start their house manual with check-in instructions and WiFi, then stop. Those two matter, but a complete house manual — sometimes searched for as an "Airbnb house manual" — covers a handful of other sections guests reliably ask about if they're missing.

Check-in instructions

The most-read section, so it's worth getting specific. "The lockbox is on the railing to the left of the front door" beats "the code is on the door" every time — guests are reading this standing outside with luggage, not settling in for a paragraph.

WiFi

Network name and password, shown clearly near the top rather than buried on page six of a PDF. This is the single most-requested piece of information in the first ten minutes of a stay.

House rules

• Pets — allowed or not, and any conditions
• Smoking — indoors, outdoors, or not at all
• Parties and events
• Quiet hours
• Max guests
• Check-out time and process

This is the section hosts most often skip or write in a rush — it's tedious to word well, even though it's short. A generator that writes a first draft from a few checkboxes (property type, pets, smoking, parties, quiet hours) can save the ten minutes of staring at a blank text box this usually takes.

Appliances

The TV, thermostat, washer/dryer, coffee maker, and anything else a guest is likely to get stuck on. If a guest has ever texted you about how to work something in the house, it belongs here.

Emergency contacts

Fire department, police, your own number, and the nearest hospital or urgent care. Rarely used, but the one section guests actually expect to find instantly if they ever need it.

Local recommendations (optional, but worth it)

Not required, but consistently the most-read section after check-in instructions. A short, personal list — a coffee shop, a restaurant, a trail — reads as more trustworthy than a generic "nearby attractions" list pulled from a map app.

Once you have all of this written down, the next question is usually how to get it in front of guests — a printed binder, an attached PDF, or a link they can open on their phone the moment they arrive. That's covered separately below.